Burdened (A Burdened Novel) (20 page)

He stops kissing me and I immediately start cursing, in my mind, the person who interrupted us. He stares at me with his ocean-blue eyes. “I see the color of my eyes now. They look weird to me.”

“How do you see them?”

“Through you.”

“Ahem,” the voice says, more annoyed.

He rolls his eyes, closing them tightly. “Yes, Taylor?” he says without moving.

“Why are you outside at the beach being nasty?” And who is this?

“This is my oldest and
less-mature
sister, Taylor. Taylor
this
is Tracey.”

“Tracey!” She sounds as if she’s smiling. I can’t see her with Nathan still hovering over me, looking at me as he talks to her.

He is quickly pushed from me. A slight sting courses through me by a pretty woman who looks like their father. Skin-tone like Nathan’s, and eyes like her mom’s. “Aww, Tracey, it’s so nice to finally meet you.” She pulls me from my laying position, embracing me. I hug her back, feeling a little weird about it. She looks at me, smiling, then to Nathan, who is a few feet from me.

When did he get so far away?

“Why didn’t you tell me she was out here with you?” There is excitement in her tone. “I didn’t even know you were here. Do mother and father know you all are here?” She looks back to me, smiling.

I return her smile.
“Hi, Taylor.” She smiles wider. Her black hair is pulled into a lifted ponytail that touches her neck. She has naturally long eyelashes, shadowing her bright-green eyes.

“Yes, she met mother and father yesterday,” Nathan answers with less excitement, “and I’m not ready for her to meet everyone yet. I, also, didn’t know you were home. When did you get back?”

“Oh, a day or so ago.” She stands, taking my hand so that I can stand up as well. “You are so pretty, Tracey,” she says, looking me over again. Letting go of my hand, she walks over to Nathan. She hugs him. “Oh Nathan, I am so happy for you, and she is beautiful. What did your father say?”

He lets go of their embrace, and walks over to me with one arm around his sister. “Thank
you, and he said nothing.” Her mouth moves, but I can’t hear anything come out of it. “She knows everything, Taylor. I have no secrets.”

“Oh!” she gasps, and looks at me. “You took everything…well?” I nod simply. “Even about what he is?” I nod again. “Even about our father?” I nod.
“Even about his abilities?”

I nod.
“A few of them.”

“Uh huh.
Even the killings?” My eyes go wide.

“And that is where we draw the line, my dear sister. She knows about it, but not the detail in it. Not because she doesn’t want to know, but because I don’t want to talk about it. And I don’t want you to talk about it either.”

“Okay, understood,” she says, convinced. “She’s strong, Nathan.”

“I know.” And…I’m standing right here. “Oh, and Scott will be here shortly with his Glen, who knows nothing. So be normal, and if anyone else is in the house, tell them to be normal too.”

She moves his arm from her. “Someone is always in the house. I’ll let them know, to respect you all’s privacy and not to tipoff Glen.” She starts to walk away. “It was very nice to meet you, Tracey. Hopefully Nathan will let us hang around each other sometime.”

“Nice to meet you too.
Maybe,” I reply gracefully.

Nathan closes the distance between us and wraps his arms around me. I bury my head in his chest, breathing in his scent. It relaxes me. “See what I mean about them going to want to steal you away?”

“Uh huh. Why does Taylor refer to you all’s dad as
your
father?”

He thinks before responding, “Now, it’s out of habit. We put him off on each other, neither of us wanting to claim him. You’ll only hear it from me and Taylor.”

“That’s odd.”

He shrugs “It is, but knowing what he has done, I know you understand.” I do understand. “Come on, Scott’s here.” We turn back to the house.

We walked very far, I realize on our walk back. The sun is high, indicating it’s midafternoon.

Glen is going to want to talk. The funny-shaped snowflake or star on her, pictures in my mind. I slow our pace. “When I saw Glen and Scott asleep together the other night, she had an oddly-shaped snowflake under her eye. I’ve never seen that on her before.”

He stops walking. “She did?” he asks, surprised. “You sure?”

“Yes, I’m positive.” His face matches his voice.

“Why? What does it mean?”

“It’s Scott’s symbol. It means she’s his. They—he’s marked her.”

“Can you talk in a language that I understand?”

He starts walking, and I follow. “I told you that once we mate, I took on your heart, right? That’s the beginning, like an introduction to your mate. At some point, maybe that night, they had to have sealed themselves by
fu— um, having sex, then completed it by sleeping and waking up together.” He pauses. “She’s bound to him.”

I’m lost, and unsure about what he’s saying. He acts as if it’s something that is not supposed to happen, but he is not upset about it. “It’s not a bad thing, Tracey. They just aren’t ready. That explains what’s going on with them—why they can’t get along. I thought it was because he was fighting his feelings, fighting what was meant to be. But that’s not it. He gave in
fully
—to everything. He lost control…” His last few words fade off as if they aren’t directed towards me.

I’m not following him. I’ll bring this back up later tonight. “So you have been alive for ninety-plus years?”

“Yes, where did that come from?”

“You’ve been alive for a long time.”

“Not really. In the bible, people used to live for over eight-hundred years. Now,
that
is a long life.”

He has a point. “And that’s how you ended up being with so many girls?”

“So that’s where you’re going. You’re going to make me say it.”

“Say what?” I look at him curiously.

“Don’t, Tracey.” He looks down at me from the corner of his eyes. I associate that look with him feeling uncomfortable, or when something is on his mind. This time, it might be both.

“Don’t say that, Nathan. Okay, I’ll drop it. But you are old. Can you show me how you really look?”

“This is how I really look. I will look like this for a couple of decades, because these are my prime years.” He pushes his hair back, and I notice another scar on his inner-right arm. It looks bad. He looks at his arm, following my gaze. He must be in my head. “I got this twenty years ago—from another pearl knife. I was in a fight with something else that was trying to kill me. No big deal. I won,” he says with a shrug.

I can see the house clearer now. “So how many people have tried to kill you, and how many people want to kill you? And how many scars do you have?”

He looks down at me again, from the corner of his eyes. “I will not answer the first two questions. For the last, I only have three. The one on my neck, the one on my arm, and another on my leg—that one is the worse. You probably won’t see it until you can make it go away.”

“What do you mean ‘until I can make it go away’?”

“When our bodies become more acquainted with each other, we develop the ability to heal and help each other. I’ll be able to talk to you if you are far from me—like in another state or country, or find you anywhere.”

“What happens if I need to find you, or talk to you?”

“You will be able to do them as well. But I don’t anticipate anything happening where I would need to find you or you being far from me.” He opens the fence that leads into the backyard. “Scott and Glen are waiting for us in the basement.”

“Okay. Can we stop in the kitchen and get something to drink?”

“Of course.” He kisses my neck as he opens the door that leads right beside the kitchen. “What do you want to drink?” he asks as we walk in.

“A bottle of water, please.”

“You got it.” He grabs two bottles of water. Cracking mine open, then handing it to me, he does the same to his, opening it completely and drinking it down immediately.

He throws the empty bottle in a nearby recycle bin. “Were you thirsty?” I ask, giving him a weird look.

He looks at me, then to the recycle bin. “Yes, I guess I was.” He laughs and walks over to me, draping his arm around my shoulder.

The basement door is around the corner, in the foyer of the back door. He opens the door and I can hear Glen and Scott bickering. I roll my eyes, refusing to walk down the stairs.

Come on, Tracey, just until they calm down. Plus, the basement is huge. It’s a place where we can hide away and I can love on you
.

I smile, intrigued.
I’m just not in the mood for them
.

Only for a little bit.
When the sun gets ready to set, we’ll leave. They should be calmed by then
.

Okay
, I state reluctantly as we walk down the stairs.

The basement is huge, it’s the size of the first floor. There is a family room where Glen and Scott are sitting, a kitchen, what looks like two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a play room. A whole family can live down here.

“Sometimes we do have families live down here—for our extended family that needs a place to stay, temporarily. They come and stay for a while, until they get things together.”

I nod, still taking in the huge space. Scott and Glen have not yet noticed we are down here. “
Now
, why are you two arguing?” I hope I sound as irritated as I feel.

“You do, babe. You do.”
Nathan grabs my hand, relieving my irritation.

“I don’t know what’s going on,
Cey,” Glen starts. “At one moment, he is cool and we are happy. The next, he’s being an asshole. He has my feelings jumping through hoops.” She is visibly irritated.

Nathan drags me over to the couch that they are not sitting on. He pulls me down so that I’m sitting between his legs,
laying against him, with his arms around me. I’m comfortable.

“Hi Glen.
What’s up, Scott?” He greets.

“Hi Nathan,” Glen says with a smile. Scott and I both look at her like she’s lost her mind. I cool myself down.

“So what are you all watching?” Nathan asks for conversation sake, feeling the tension in the room.

“I have just been flipping through the channels, not paying attention because of arguing with Scott,” Glen says sweetly.

Scott gets up from the loveseat and walks over to Glen, who is sitting on the long sofa. He bends over and whispers something in her ear. Her smile fades and her face falls. He stands and walks back over to the loveseat.

I’m going to talk to him for a minute.

I hope you mean talk to him inside your head, because you are not leaving me. Do you see how sad she looks? I can’t deal with that
.

I guess I won’t be leaving to talk to him.

I guess not
.

He goes silent, and I lay upon his chest, debating taking a nap.

“So Tracey, what have you two been up to?” Nothing.

“Nothing much, just talking,” I answer her with a yawn.

“Are those new shoes you have on?”

I look at my feet.
“Umm, yeah. Nathan got them for me.”

“What, you all went shopping together?”

“No, he had them waiting for me when I woke up this morning.”

She sits up, leaning forward. “You spent the night out here?”

“Umm, yes. Why?”

She shakes her head.
“Nothing. I just thought you all were at your house.”

“We were, just not last night.” Nathan tenses. I place my hands against his, which are resting on my sides. He relaxes.
Comfortable and now knowing him. “What did you all do today?” I continue with Glen.

“Let’s see,” she lifts her head as she thinks. “I yelled and Scott cursed. And then I cursed and Scott yelled. Then I walked off and he came after me. He was okay. He said some nice things,
then I said some nice things. Then he started yelling again.”

I look at her like she has lost her mind. She throws her head back against the couch, covering her face with her hands. She lets out a harsh, aggravated breath.

I look over at Scott, who seems to be in a deep conversation, while he stares at Glen. I look up at Nathan, who’s looking at Scott and Glen. He looks down at me and smiles.

I’m fixing it
. He rolls his eyes upward.
For right now anyway
.

I smile at him

Give it five minutes and he’s going to move over to the couch she is on and hold her, like I’m holding you.

I think I’m going to take a nap. You mind if I sleep on you?

Never, go ahead. I’ll wake you in a little, before it’s time for us to go back outside
.

Okay
.